Driver loft question

[Jack Lee]

Ok, here's the thing. I am getting to the point that I have a fairly consistent drive at about 230 yards or so. I hit one in five or so for about 250-260. I am hitting fairly true with only a touch of fade or draw with an occasional hook or slice. Currently, I am hitting an older driver (Taylormade 300ti) with a 9.5 degree loft. I chose the 9.5 after hitting a 9.5 at a demo day for another manufacturer's clubs and finding that I could hit 200 yards with it a week after starting to play golf.

What I am finding is that my drives look to be getting WAY high. I didn't really give it another thought until I hit my new 3 wood in a round and hit a low hisser of a shot that easily ran out to 220 or so. Seeing that and seeing how high my drives are flying made me think that maybe I might need to make a change in my driving to get more range.

I have mucked about with my ball position in my stance to try to bring the path down and that made a bit of change, but it still looks to me like I could be getting a lot more out of my drives.

The questions I have are:

I have looked at changing up to a driver with an 8.5 loft. Would that make a difference in my drive flight, or should I try to work it out in my swing style?

I am not looking at dropping 300 bucks here on a new driver, just hunting up another one of the type I am hitting with less loft. That pretty much takes expense out of it. (They run something like 20 bucks or so shipped.)

Are there other things I might look at that would have an impact on my drive height before I try another club?

What are people's thoughts in general?

Thanks!
Jack Lee

[PiKapp23]

Since the shaft has as much or more to do with the height of your drives you should not just assume you need less loft. With my old driver (a TM R540XD) I too felt I was hitting the ball too high. Once I got to looking at new drivers this year I quickly realized that less loft wasn't the answer, but rather a shaft with a higher kickpoint (firmer tip). The loft of both is 9.5 and the shafts in my new and old shaft are both 'Stiff', but my current driver has a firmer tip and my ball flight is significantly lower than it was a couple months ago with the other driver. So often we just assume that 'Stiff' flex is an industry standard, but one companies 'stiff' could well be another companies 'Regular' flex or 'Extra Stiff' flex. Furthermore, the same shaft in 2 different drivers with same loft may react quite a bit differently as well. If you are looking to keep the same model the cheapest and best alternative would probably be to get it reshafted with a shaft with a higher kickpoint.

One thing to remember (as I have learned throughout my new driver testing) is that a high ball flight with driver is not necessarily a bad thing. A straight, high ball flight will end up in the fairway and usually not run out into trouble. A lower ball flight can often cause more spin on the ball which in turrn leads to more turn on the ball (soft draws and fades can become hooks and slices).

[enis750]

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[bIGwIRE]

It is kind of hard to answer this without seeing your swing. My instinct is telling me that it is in your swing. I'm assuming you are a high handicap... what do you ussually shoot per 18?
Just a blind guess... when you finish your swing is your body weight over your front foot ( like it should be) or over your back foot? Many newer golfers try to generate power by shifting their weight on their back foot, with their front foot spinning on its heel, like the swing you would make playing baseball.Doing this will add alot of extra height, to the point of losing much distance, and since you said "WAY high" a 1 degree driver change probbably isn't the answer.

Another possibility is your tee height, although if you are getting 220-230 yards you tee is probbably not too high, but something to look at.

Just took a stab at it...maybe give us some more info?

[Jack Lee]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I tried the easiest suggestion first and tried teeing it a bit lower today at the driving range. Seemed to help as I was getting a bit more distance and not the huge arcing flight that I had been seeing.

I think that I will be paying attention to my tee height for a while and see what that does.

Happy Hacking!
Jack Lee